Description of Historic Place

2320 Lorne Street is a Municipal Heritage Property located on one municipal lot within the Transition area of the City of Regina. Known as the McPherson / Graham Residence, the property features a two-and-one-half storey house faced with brick on the main floor, wood shingle siding on the second level, and half-timbering and stucco on the upper level.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 2320 Lorne Street resides in its association with a distinguished resident of Regina, Archibald John McPherson. Born in Waterloo County, Ontario in 1870, McPherson graduated in applied sciences from the University of Toronto in 1893. McPherson came to Regina in 1905 as Assistant Chief Engineer of the provincial Public Works department. He became Superintendent of Highways in 1908, Regina’s first City Commissioner in 1910, and Chairman of the Board of Highways Commissioners in 1912. He resigned in 1914 and after 1916 saw active service overseas in the First World War. After the war McPherson returned to Regina and worked as a consulting engineer until 1920, when he was appointed chairman of the Saskatchewan Water Supply Commission. He appears to have left the province by about 1924. Among his business ventures, McPherson was a director of the Saskatchewan Investment and Agency Co., Western Development Syndicates, Western Loan and Investment Co., and Wascana Realty Co. Archibald McPherson resided at 2320 Lorne Street from 1912 until 1916.

The heritage value of the property also resides in its association with other prominent residents of Regina, William Morris Graham and A.H. Violetta (Wood) Graham, who lived in the house from 1918 until William’s death in 1940. William Graham was born in Ottawa in 1867 and worked for the federal Department of Indian Affairs in the North West Territories and Saskatchewan between 1885 and 1932. During his career Graham rose from the position of clerk at the Moose Mountain Agency office to become Indian Commissioner, responsible for the operation of Indian Reserves in Western Canada. His career was highlighted by the establishment of the File Hills Colony on the PeePeekisis Reserve and the implementation of the Greater Production Campaign on the agricultural reserves in the Prairie Provinces.

The heritage value also resides in its conservative interpretation of the Queen Anne Revival architectural style. Queen Anne Revival is an eclectic building style which was popular during the early twentieth century and incorporated architectural elements from a variety of historical periods. Simple bays, gabled roofs, irregular floor plans and roof lines are all typical of the style and are evident on this property. Also present is a mixture of siding materials, which is also characteristic of the Queen Anne style.

Source:

City of Regina Bylaw No.9932.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of 2320 Lorne Street lies in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect the property’s association with prominent Regina residents, Archibald J. McPherson and William and Violetta Graham, such as the location of the building on its original site;
-those elements which speak to its conservative interpretation of the Queen Anne Revival style, including the steeply-pitched gable roof, wood-shingle siding, half-timbering and stucco on three gable ends, the oriel windows on the second level, and the large front verandah.